COVID-19 and influenza cases are rising fast nationwide. A dozen states are reporting what the CDC classifies as very high flu cases, which is the highest category on CDC‘s chart. What’s worse is that peak flu season is still a few weeks away — and it's difficult to know how we could be more peak than we already are.  A lot of people will be sick during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

There are signs that inflation is easing. Gasoline prices are falling every week these days and the price of used cars is also dropping from their pandemic peaks. New prices have fallen a little bit but are stratospherically higher than pre-pandemic prices — and new car prices have barely come down at all.

TSA is testing a facial recognition program at airports around the country and may expand it in the coming months. The software matches your ID with your face more accurately than a human can. TSA says that in the future, you may not have to show your ID — just look into the camera and the computer will know who you are, which is both convenient and creepy. TSA claims it is mostly not tracking you and that you can refuse to look into the camera. But then maybe you will get to spend some quality time with the nice man in the uniform explaining your problem?